Family golf in Britain: Texas scramble, foursomes or a capped score, and where to start as a family

Picture a Saturday in October. Grandad plays off 18 and still hits it 200 yards. Mum gave up golf when the children arrived and is not sure she remembers how to grip a club. Her son is thirteen and swings flat out at everything; his sister is eight and can send a ball about 50 yards if the wind is behind her. Put all four on the 1st tee with a ball each and a card that counts every stroke, and by the 5th the eight-year-old is in tears, the teenager is sulking and the fourball behind is waving its arms. The golf is not the problem. The format is. Choose a different game and the same four people can have the best morning of their autumn.

Start with who is playing, not with the card

Before you pick a format, look at the group honestly. The gap that matters is not handicap, it is how many shots each person needs to get from tee to green, and how long they can concentrate. A few typical line-ups:

• One golfer and one complete beginner, such as a dad and his ten-year-old daughter on her first proper outing.
• Two adults and two children of different ages, the classic half-term foursome.
• Three generations, where the oldest player is steady but short, and the youngest is long but wild.
• A teenager who has started lessons and now wants a real score of their own.

Each of these needs something different. The good news is that the Rules of Golf and a bit of common sense give you three formats that cover almost every family, and each of them fits on one scorecard. If you want the full menu of club formats first, our guide to formats of play in British club golf sets them out.

Texas scramble, with a rule that shares out the drives

Most British club golfers know the Texas scramble from society days and charity events. Everyone tees off, the team picks the best shot, and everyone plays again from there until the ball is in the hole. One score per hole for the whole side.

For a family, the benefits are obvious. The eight-year-old never has to hack out of the same bunker four times, because the team simply carries on from the best ball. Only one ball is ever in play after the first shot, so the pace looks after itself. And the beginner’s good shots count as much as anyone’s.

The weakness is just as obvious: left alone, the strongest player hits every shot that matters. Add two house rules.

• A quota of drives. Over nine holes, each player’s tee shot has to be used at least twice. The child who puts a 45-yard drive straight down the middle on the par 3 suddenly becomes the most valuable player on the team.
• The youngest has the first putt. If it drops, the hole is over and she has holed the winning putt. That is the moment she will talk about in the car.

This is not a made-up family game, either. Scottish Golf runs its GolfSixes League for junior beginners as a pairs Texas scramble over six short holes, none longer than 150 yards. If the national body thinks the scramble is the right first taste of team golf for children, it will work for yours.

Foursomes: one ball, two people, Rule 22

Foursomes is about as British as golf gets: two partners share one ball and take turns hitting it. One partner drives on the odd holes, the other on the even holes, and after the tee shot they alternate until the ball is holed. The Rules of Golf cover it in Rule 22.

It is the ideal format for two players who are miles apart, such as a grandparent and a grandchild. Every shot counts, so nobody is a passenger, and each player has to play from wherever the other one left the ball. The adult quickly learns that a gentle shot to the middle of the fairway is more useful to a small partner than a big drive into the heather. The child learns that finding the fairway beats finding the wind. You will hear more conversation about how to play a hole in one round of foursomes than in a month of fourballs.

Two tweaks for a family round:

• Separate tees. In a club competition, a side normally plays from one set of tees. In a friendly family round you are free to let each partner drive from the tee that suits them, forward tees for the child and the usual tees for the adult. Our piece on choosing the right tees explains why this matters for adults too.
• Greensomes if the child needs more swings. In greensomes, both partners drive, the pair picks the better tee shot, and they alternate from there. The child gets a full swing on every hole without the pair being punished for a topped drive.

With four players, make it two pairs: grandad and the eight-year-old against mum and the teenager. Two balls for four people makes it one of the quickest ways round a course.

Where British families can find their first holes together

You do not need a club membership to try any of this. In England, England Golf runs Get into Golf, which lists beginner, family and junior sessions through an activity finder at getintogolf.co.uk. Its family sessions are described as relaxed and beginner-friendly, with equipment often provided and ordinary comfortable clothing all that is needed. It also points families to simulator, mini and adventure golf, which are perfectly good places to find out whether an eight-year-old enjoys hitting a ball at all.

For the round itself, a nine-hole course or a short pay-and-play layout is the natural home of family golf in Britain. Fewer holes and shorter par 3s mean more chances for everyone to reach the green. Our guide to nine-hole courses in the UK covers what to look for, and if you are weighing up a club or a green fee, see membership or pay and play. Many clubs also have junior sections; ask what they offer rather than relying on a figure you saw elsewhere, as fees and age bands differ from club to club.

In Scotland, junior beginners who are making progress in coaching but have no handicap yet, or one of 37 and above, can join the GolfSixes League through their club. The leagues run with four to six teams each, and Scottish Golf says more than 25 take place across the country every year.

One point on handicaps, because teenagers always ask. Under the World Handicap System as applied in Great Britain and Ireland, a new golfer needs 54 holes to get a first Handicap Index, made up of complete 9-hole or 18-hole rounds. Each round has to be pre-registered on the day and marked by someone the club’s handicap committee accepts, and for these first scores the most that can count on any hole is par plus five. The same guidance says that when team members play together in a team competition, those scores are not acceptable for handicap, and the handicap system is built around the player’s own score. So treat the scramble and the foursome as the fun rounds, and speak to the club about which rounds could count before your teenager starts building a record.

Your own ball, but pick up at the limit

Sooner or later, the thirteen-year-old will want to play his own ball and keep his own score. With mixed abilities, the trick is a maximum score per hole. It is an official form of stroke play under Rule 21.2: the committee sets a limit, and anyone who reaches it picks up and writes down the limit. On a family day, the family is the committee.

Double par is a sensible starting point: 6 on a par 3, 8 on a par 4, 10 on a par 5. If you like the idea of matching the handicap guidance for new golfers, use par plus five instead; it is more generous, but it teaches the same habit of picking up and moving on.

The cap does three jobs. Nobody walks off the 4th with a 13. Nobody plays more than a fixed number of shots, which keeps the group moving. And the card still means something, so a child can see progress from one weekend to the next. For the smallest players, let them start each hole from a spot nearer the green, such as the 150-yard marker post, until the full hole is within reach.

If the family wants a winner, switch to Stableford points. Anyone who picks up simply scores zero on that hole, a system every British club golfer already knows.

Matching the game to the family

• Grandparent and grandchild: foursomes, each driving from their own tee.
• Dad and a first-timer: greensomes, so the child swings on every tee.
• Four players, two of them under twelve: Texas scramble over nine holes, with the drive quota.
• Two pairs who like a contest: foursomes match play, parents against children or mixed pairs.
• A teenager chasing a score: own ball with a cap per hole, Stableford if you want a winner.
• Nobody can agree: scramble on the first five holes, own ball with a cap on the last four.

Tee times and the October light

Autumn in Britain is a good time for family golf, with courses quieter than in summer, but the days shorten quickly. The clocks go back on Sunday 25 October, and after that late-afternoon rounds run out of daylight fast, so plan to be off the course well before dusk. Around half-term, book early in the week rather than on Saturday morning, when members’ competitions fill the tee sheet.

When you book, tell the club you are a family group with a young beginner. Most starters would much rather know in advance and put you in a gap. On the course, play ready golf, let a quicker group through without waiting to be asked, and keep an eye on the gap in front rather than the group behind. Our advice on pace of play applies to a family four just as much as to a club fourball.

Small things that keep an eight-year-old smiling

• Jobs for everyone. One child is scorer, the other looks after the flag. Having a role off the ball makes a young player feel part of the round.
• Mini contests. Nearest the pin on the par 3s, longest putt holed, fewest balls lost. Prizes can be as small as choosing the cake in the clubhouse.
• One tip per nine. The round is not a lesson. Save the coaching for the professional; our guide to getting value from lessons explains how to make that time count.
• Snacks and a waterproof. A hungry, cold child on the 7th ends a round faster than any triple bogey.
• Leave while it is still fun. If the youngest has had enough after six holes, walk in. Wanting to come back matters more than finishing.

Before you set off: a checklist

• Choose a nine-hole or short course and book a quiet slot, ideally midweek during half-term.
• Decide the format in the car, not on the 1st tee: Texas scramble for a first outing, foursomes for a pair, a capped own ball for the keen teenager.
• Agree the house rules out loud: drive quota, first putt for the youngest, maximum score per hole.
• Pick a tee for each player and write it on the card.
• Pack water, snacks and a layer for the wind, and check what time the light goes.
• On the drive home, ask everyone which format they want to try next time.

The right game is the one that has the whole family asking when they can go again. Try one of the three this half-term, and bend the rules until they fit.